Nadja´s Style — Azul for Fashion For Change

Womankind’s approach is not to impose a ‘top down’ solution but to help and empower the women’s groups it works with to achieve their own solutions and change. Womankind Worldwide also works in wider arenas, to lobby for change , working to influence the powers and practices of governments and non-governmental organizations.

While not being a very large charity, over the 25 years of its existence it has supported directly and indirectly over 18 million women and their families. In 2013, for instance, it worked in 15 countries, directly supported almost 141,000 women, and helped improve the rights of over 6 million women. In 2013 as an example, it worked in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nepal, Peru, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

What follows is just a tiny example of the schemes, large and small, that it has helped.

Afghanistan – In Jalalabad WW helped a a legal aid center run by a local Women’s Organization to provide free legal support to 175 women, psychosocial support to 70 women/girls and basic health treatment to 46 women

Bolivia – WW helped 550 indigenous and peasant women leaders in 5 out of the country’s 9 regions to acquire the knowledge to challenge discrimination and they are now actively participating in local politics.

Liberia – WW helped develop a manual to help the police improve how they manage cases involving violence against women and girls, especially rape

Tanzania – WW worked with the Women’s Legal Aid Center in the Nyarugusu camp to support refugee paralegal units to take action on violence against women, and other human rights abuses, and they trained the wider community to recognize, promote and protect the rights of refugee women, children and men.

Nepal – WW helped Dalit tribal women’s political participation and their understanding of local political processes

Ethiopia – over five years, alongside another charity, WW worked with local communities to raise awareness of women’s rights, violence against women and harmful traditional practices. Just one result of this work was that 250,000 girls escaped genital mutilation.

That is only a tiny sample, the list could go on for hours….

This is a charity where even small donations can make a significant difference, because the money is targeted to make maximum and lasting impact. Some examples are shown below.

$20 US could train a police person in Peru in issues of sexual exploitation, violence and women’s rights to ensure that they better support trafficked women and women in prostitution.

$60US could train a community paralegal in Ghana, to provide legal support to survivors of violence, helping them to obtain child custody, a divorce or to keep their home.

$300US could train 25 Aymara women in Bolivia to educate other women in their communities on women’s rights, violence and leadership.

Looking at the figures, you can see that there is a real chance that money raised in Second Life could make a real difference somewhere.